Friday, 28 October 2016

Cops remove protestors from their encampmnet on private and

Hundreds
of police in riot gear and with heavy military equipment have moved
Dakota Access Pipeline protesters from their encampment on private
land in North Dakota. Police have reportedly arrested 16
demonstrators so far.

Police
have entered the sacred ground camp and surrounded protesters there.
The stream from the site showed more than one hundred protesters on
the front line.

The
Morton County Sheriff's Office confirmed to the Associated Press that
it had cleared the private land of protesters around 6:30pm EST
Thursday.

“We
see some of you have bows. Do not shoot bows and arrows at us,”
they added, as protesters laughed.

National
Guard troops and police removed tents and other possessions from the
new encampment, which the Standing Rock Sioux tribe says is sacred
land granted to them via treaty in 1851.

Police
also dismantled the barricade across the road.

As
police corralled the protesters southward, some activists remained
facing the police and even engaged with them while walking backwards.
Atsa E'sha Hoferer was livestreaming on Facebook, telling officers
that they should be on the side of the protests and that they too
would suffer from contaminated water should the pipeline burst.

Police
have said that they will defend themselves against horses, journalist
Wes Enzinna tweeted.

“Do
not ride horses at the police,” law enforcement announced.

“You’re
endangering people’s lives by what you’re doing,” police told
the protesters, telling them to move south or be arrested. People
will not be arrested if they return to the main camp, one officer
said at the barricade.

Protesters
are burning tires, logs and other objects, sending smoke onto the
roadway. A car has also been torched, journalist Jason Patinkin
tweeted.

Although
the Federal Aviation Administration has restricted flights over the
Cannon Ball area until November 5, there is a police helicopter above
the faceoff, journalist Antonia Juhasz tweeted.

More
than 260 protesters have been arrested in the weeks leading up to
Thursday’s operation, AP reported.

In
the morning police made a line in front of the fence and the company
workers are behind them. The tents of the so-called North Camp were
located a stone’s throw away from the police line. Authorities
insist that this camp should be removed, according to activist Atsa
E'sha Hoferer live-streaming from the site.

People
on the barricades are retreating peacefully amid chants of “hands
up, don’t shoot!”

"Protesters’
escalated unlawful behavior this weekend by setting up illegal
roadblocks, trespassing onto private property and establishing an
encampment, has forced law enforcement to respond at this time. As I
said yesterday, I visited the protesters roadblock and requested them
to remove the barricade and have protesters vacate the private
property. However, the spokesperson at the roadblock, Mekasi
Camp-Horinek of Oklahoma, told law enforcement they 'were not
moving'," Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said in a
statement. "I can’t stress it enough, this is a public safety
issue. We cannot have protesters blocking county roads, blocking
state highways, or trespassing on private property."